Ixigo Shows Lowest Airfares - the Hindu Confirms it Now!

We have been saying it for ages, but finally some brilliant journalism from The Hindu Business Line uncovers the dark secret of the online travel industry and the ongoing strategic shift in airline focus to selling directly.

In an article published on 6 Feb 2009, Shubhra Tandon reports - "If you thought you were getting the best bargains for air travel on portals like Cleartrip, Yatra, Makemytrip and so on, think again. This may seem tough to believe but airline Web sites are actually offering the best deals.

The chances are that you could get a ticket Rs 150-Rs 400 cheaper or, with a great degree of luck and timing, even close to Rs 2,000!

While fares are largely a function of demand and supply, the transaction/service fee levied by travel agents is resulting in cheaper deals on airlines’ Web site.

For instance, a ticket on an Indigo flight from Mumbai to New Delhi booked on its Web site for March 8 is available for Rs 2,123 (inclusive of taxes and surcharges), which is Rs 150 lower than the figure of Rs 2,273 on travel portals.

The cheapest fare on Air India’s Web site between Mumbai-Hyderabad is Rs 2,272 against portals, which hover around Rs 2,500 for the same date. Similarly, a ticket on Kingfisher Airlines between Mumbai-Bangalore is available for Rs 2,800 against around Rs 3,000 on portals.

The comparison holds good for tickets on other routes and other airlines with some exceptions, of course."

Other highlights from the article include a quote by Mr Foo Chai Woo, General Manager, India, Singapore Airlines - “As an airline it is our commercial prerogative to market directly to the consumer. There is also a message that airlines are trying to get across to the customers –‘Keep checking our Web site, we could have something better to offer"

An executive from MakeMyTrip tries to argue that the difference between the fares on their site and the airline site are due to "a lag in matching fluctuations" (in fare). This perception is corrected at the end of the article by Mr Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet - " Online travel agents charge for services they offer. They provide multiple choices to customers in one go which, in turn, carries with it some advantages. At the same time, we also want to drive customers to our own Web sites. And since this is a direct channel, there is no transaction fee charged on bookings there"

As far as iXiGO.com is concerned, as we all know, we show airline fares directly from airline sites and allow you to book them there. This article only confirms that we find you the cheapest fares 100% of the time